Digital Tradition Mirror

When Cockleshells Turn Silver Bells (Waly, Waly)

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

When Cockleshells Turn Silver Bells (Waly, Waly)

When cockleshells turn silver bells,
And mussels grow on ev'ry tree;
When roses grow midst winter's snow
Then will my love return to me.

cho: O waly, waly, but love is bonnie
     A little time when it is new.
     But when it's old, it groweth cold
     And fades away like morning dew.

O had I wist, before I kissed
That love had been so ill to win;
I'd locked my heart in case of gold
And pinned it with a silver pin.

Note: Still another yet of the Waly, or Water is Wide
     variations. This one is English, early 17'th century and
     pretty. Words from different versions seem to be
     interchangeable. See WALYWALY, WATRWIDE, GOBOUND
Recorded by Burl Ives
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!